The Texas-based mixed martial arts league, Shark Fights, had its eighteenth official event this weekend at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada.

The main card featured five fights from a number of experienced, professional mixed martial artists who all set out to prove themselves in the Shark Cage.  The results are as follows.

Light Heavyweight (205 lbs) bout: Roy Boughton defeats Adriano Camolese via TKO at 3:02 of R2

Roy Boughton (6-2) of Pleasant Hill, California made his Shark Fights debut on Friday night against Hollywood’s Adriano Camolese (4-2).

Prior to Shark Fights, however, Boughton was no stranger to big names competition, having fought fighters the likes of Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Rameu Thierry Sokoudjou.

The first round saw both competitors demonstrate all facets of mixed martial arts in various exchanges.  Camolese appeared to be getting the better of the standup exchanges, but once Boughton took the fight to the ground, he would pass his opponent’s submission attempts and work to punish on the ground.

Camolese was no slouch, however, which he demonstrated by nearly locking in a knee bar at the end of the first stanza.

Endurance did not appear to be on Camolese’s side during the second round.  With more back and forth exchanges on the ground with strikes and submission attempts, Boughton eventually took Camolese’s back and landed several unanswered hammer fists before the ref called the fight.

Featherweight (145 lbs) bout: Alexander Crispim defeats Randy Spence via submission (d’arce choke) at 1:01 of R3

The Brazilian Alexander Crispim (7-2) of Crispim BJJ in Pleasanton, California had an impressive showing at Shark Fights in a competitive outing against Randy Spence (11-11).

The choke of choice by Crispim seemed to be the d’arce (side arm triangle) choke, which he attempted to lock in during both rounds 2 and 3.  Early into Round 3, however, Crispim saw himself in top position inside Spence’s half guard.  Seeing a golden opportunity, he tightly locked in the d’arce choke, and picked up the submission win.

Heavyweight (265 lbs) bout: Dave Huckaba defeats Ruben Villareal via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Shark Fights also featured a heavyweight bout between two experienced, former champions, Ruben “Warpath” Villarreal (19-22-3) and Dave Huckaba (16-4).

Warpath is certainly no stranger to the cage.  At 41-years-old and with over forty fights to his credit, Villareal has stood toe-to-toe with a number of big names in MMA, including Dan Severn, Bas Rutten, Ricco Rodriguez, Paul Buentello, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, and Brett Rogers.  He is also a former Gladiator Challenge Heavyweight Champion.

Dave “Bad Man” Huckaba, who is also a former Gladiator Challenge Heavyweight Champion, like many others before him, got introduced to Warpath’s granite chin at Shark Fights.

The battle-tested Warpath appeared to put on his best Tim Sylvia impression throughout the bout.  Nevertheless, Huckaba demonstrated more fluidity on his feet and won most of the exchanges, out-pointing Warpath in the process.  After three full rounds, the fight did not hit the ground once.  Huckaba won by unanimous decision.

Light Heavyweight bout: Emanuel Newton defeats Ricky Shivers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

One of the more impressive fighters of Shark Fights 18 was Emanuel Newton (16-6-1) of Long Beach, California.  Throughout his 3-round fight against Ricky Shivers (10-6-1), he was the aggressor.  Most notably, he hit a number of big takedowns, including a back body lock, overhead (i.e. German) suplex.

With complete domination and control on the ground by Newton, he recorded the sixteenth win of his career against Ricky Shivers.

Lightweight Main Event: Shane Nelson defeats Aaron Wetherspoon via TKO (injury) at 1:33 of R2

The main event of Shark Fights 18 featured Ultimate Fighter and UFC alum, “Sugar” Shane Nelson (14-5) of Hilo, Hawaii taking on Chino Hills, California’s Aaron Wetherspoon (8-4).

Nelson informed FightStylez that his goal was to continue on with his winning ways to one day make it back onto the “big show” that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  However, the former King of the Cage welterweight champion Aaron “Slam” Wetherspoon came to fight.

The first round of the main event was mainly contested on the feet and in the clinch, with neither fighter gaining a definitive advantage.  Things unfortunately took a turn for the worse in Round 2.

Wetherspoon went for a low kick about one minute into the second round, and turned his knee in a way that it wasn’t supposed to.  He immediately fell to the floor and grasped his knee, and Nelson followed him to the ground with punches.  The referee had no choice but to call the fight off due to injury, pronouncing Nelson the winner at 1:33 of Round 2.

As always, stay tuned for all this and more with FightStylez.

By: Alan J. Chang, FightStylez
Photos by: Dave Fong